Shipowners and environmental groups seldom see eye to eye on anything — but proposals for slow-steaming under discussion at the IMO are a rare and spectacular exception.

In a letter to the shipping organisation last week, more than a hundred shipowners expressed support to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by reducing ships’ sailing speed.

Far less attention was paid to the fact that nine environmental NGOs also backed the letter, whose text was essentially a co-production of shipowners and green groups.